Softball Can’t Keep Up with Worcester’s Offense
Girls’ varsity softball made the hike down to Worcester this weekend to face one of their toughest opponents of the season. The girls have been scrapping for field time all term and just started to get a glimpse of that fresh green grass and dirt these past couple of weeks. Due to the lack of practice and real time out on the diamond, the girls came back with an 11-12 loss, bringing their record to 0-2.
“Our coach has been really supportive and told us basically that we needed to work really hard but that we could do it if we rallied and kept our heads up.”
The girls came into the game looking for the win, but things turned around quickly as soon as they went down 12-1. But instead of throwing the game, the girls decided that they needed to rally and start coming at the team with confidence and the knowledge that they could beat Worcester Academy. “The team decided we needed to come back and we did,” lower Lauren Fidelak said.
Though everything fell apart in one inning, the girls “just started hitting bombs and got the momentum going,” upper and captain Courtney Gibeley said. “We then came back 11-12 and ended up losing, but I was so proud of the team for not giving up. Even though we lost, we should all be very proud.”
The girls were able to strike back with ten more runs and started to play with a new attitude. They credit their newly found confidence to their coaching. “Our coach has been really supportive and told us basically that we needed to work really hard but that we could do it if we rallied and kept our heads up,” Gibeley said.
Coach Nancy Thompson continually reminded the team of a game two years ago when they were able to rally back and beat Tabor 13-12. This “half-time pep talk-esque” speech by Thompson gave them exactly what they needed to go back out there and give Worcester all they had. They knew that even though they may not come out with the “W,” they still could have comeback and made the best of the situation.
As far as looking forward to the game against Cushing this Wednesday, Exeter just wants to go out there confidently with the attitude that they can beat any team as long as they try their hardest. “I think the way we played yesterday showed how we are more than capable of winning just how we are now,” lower Bella Thilmany said. “Worcester scored 10 runs in the second inning, and we managed to hold them from doing that again for the rest of the game. Not only that, but we brought ourselves back and scored ten more runs. I’m so proud of the team for our performnce.”
The girls take this mentality as they walk into every game for the rest of this season and know that with hard work and perseverance, no matter what the team, they can proudly start stacking numbers to the winning side of their record.
The girls now look forward to getting their first win under their belts this season. They would definitely love to have some support at their next home game against Northfield Mount Hermon at 4 p.m.